Douglas Wyatt Tice was born on October 28, 1835, in Marthasville, Missouri, to John Tice and Amanda Wyatt. His father died on January 28, 1841, leaving behind four children under the age of seven. His mother remarried several years later to John Kent, and Douglas grew up on Kent’s farm in Warren County.

In 1858, Tice enrolled at the University of Virginia to study medicine, taking courses in chemistry, anatomy, and surgery. After a year at UVA, he transferred to the St. Louis Medical College, and he earned his degree on March 1, 1860. He settled in Troy, Missouri, where he established his practice as a physician.

Early in the Civil War, Tice was arrested “upon the charge of having given aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States.” In exchange for his release, he agreed to pay a $3,000 bond, to remain in the county until the war ended, and to report “any hostile movement, gathering or conspiracy” to the nearest Union commander. Despite his arrest, county Republicans insisted in 1870 that he had “always been a staunch friend of the government and one of that number who were truly loyal in its dark days.”

On February 25, 1864, Tice received a commission as an assistant surgeon in the 6th Missouri Cavalry (Union). The regiment participated in the Red River Campaign in Louisiana that spring, and they spent the summer stationed in Arkansas and Missouri. After contracting dysentery in Pilot Knob, Missouri, that August, he received a two-week leave of absence. His health, however, failed to improve, and a hospital worker advised him that he “had better get out of the army or he would be a dead man.” He resigned his commission on September 16, 1864.

On October 11, 1864, he married Emilie Angelique Genestelle, the orphaned daughter of a German merchant. They had at least eight children over the next nineteen years: Vilray, born 1865; Louis, born 1867; John, born 1870; Louise, born 1872; Edward, born 1875; Francis, born 1879; Lucille, born 1881; and Douglas, born 1883. On January 5, 1865, after making a partial recovery, Tice accepted a contract position as an acting assistant surgeon. He was assigned to hospital duty in the Nebraska and Washington territories until his contract expired on May 16.

After the war, Tice returned to Lincoln County, Missouri, and resumed his medical practice. Poor health plagued him for most of his life, as he suffered from spinal neuritis, rheumatism, nervous disability, partial deafness, and partial hand paralysis. He began receiving a pension in July 1892, and by 1898 he was getting $24 per month. The family moved to St. Louis in 1898, and Tice died there of general debility in 1903 at the age of 68.

Document:

Douglas W. Tice Pension Testimony, December 4, 1896